Quieting the Mind to Write

[paragraphs]

Okay guys, what do YOU do to gear-up to write? How do you block out the world so you can dive into your imagined one? Curious C is curious.

I am so severely distracted right now. There are things I want to write--very much so--but any spare moment I'm not working or cleaning or reading or otherwise occupied, instead of digging down and writing, my brain floats happily away into the future and all the wonderful fun Nick and I are going to have. I can't seem to turn off that brain of mine and get cracking.

Not the worst problem to have--obsessively thinking happy thoughts--but c'mon brain, settle down already!

Friday I send my kids off to Italy for 10 days (they'll be back the day before I leave) so I should make good use of the time. Yes I know that. But it isn't going to happen unless I can turn my brain off. I've read here and there that adopting a ritual to prepare for writing is not a good idea. Dependence on that ritual may result, and any interruption of it can be the catalyst for plunging into a bad case of writer's block. Not that writer's block is real...I certainly am not blaming that for not writing. Lame excuse, that, especially since I've got alot of things I am working on right now.

But, I need to find a way to get down to concentrating this weekend. I've already told blue_fjords she can crack a whip at me... LOL.

ALSO A QUESTION FOR FANTASY READERS AND WRITERS! Why is the language in so many fantasies so formal? do not, cannot, will not, he is, she is, etc., instead of contractions. I rather like contractions, and get tired of the overly-formal way of speaking. (that is, the characters in my head)

I am currently reading Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon on my iTouch and am LOVING it, but it drives me a bit batty, all the formality--especially as the dragon Temeraire, and his Captain sound so much alike. Formal. Of course Laurence is a Navy man, so it suits him, but why does the Temeraire have to be all formal too when he speaks? I suppose all intelligent dragons speak formally--I don't know any--but it would be nice to meet a dragon who is laid-back and casual sometime. Seriously.

So really. Is there something I don't comprehend about why the dislike for contractions? In writing my own fantasy, I'm not writing formally. It is just not going to happen with my characters, except here and there. Or perhaps one character. It really puzzles me. Thoughts welcome!

ADDED TEXT HERE from a reply to kel_reiley:
I guess that is my bugaboo--made-up worlds that rely on formal speech patterns, like it is an auto-requirement.

(this is such a pointless post about nothing much really, isn't it?) So let's add something here to make it not so pointless:

Go read this fic by misswinterhill. It is a Merlin au fic that I am not even quite finished with yet, but I am enjoying so much what she does with the characters that I just have to nudge anyone out there who might have been considering reading in that fandom. It is a good one to start with. Enjoy! misswinterhill.livejournal.com/49943.html#cutid1

Comments

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

LOL yeah they definitely don't speak in Merlin the television show the way one would imagine they would've back in the days when Merlin was around. Oh you know what I mean. And I do get that the language is appropriate in many books I just see it everywhere lately, and rather celebrate when I run across a book set in a made-up world that does NOT (ha ha!) have it.

I guess that is my bugaboo--made-up worlds that rely on formal speech patterns, like it is an auto-requirement. Hmm gonna put this up there in my post.

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

yeah, i feel the same way - i think the patterns of speech should say something about the characters speaking (i like nightrunner, b/c the language fits but it's not this fake-period, formal stuff)

[paragraphs.livejournal.com]

Okayokay what is this Nightrunner of which you speak? I must know!!



WAIT OMG THAT SERIES!

I know it! I should reread it. I have it in my house somewhere....

[kel-reiley.livejournal.com]

haha! THEY ARE MAKING A MOVIE, TOO!

[heleninwales.livejournal.com]

Really the formality of the language should match the situation, as in the real world here and now. You won't hear a boss speak to an employee the same way she would speak to her dogs or children. She probably won't speak to a superior the same way she'd speak to a colleague. A kid won't speak to his grandma or teacher the same way he'd speak to his mates on the football field.

I work on the basis that whatever language the characters in the story are really speaking, I'm translating that into the equivalent English. Thus sometimes it's formal, sometimes it's colloquial.

If you read Shakespeare, you'll see he does the different levels of formality thing. There's a scene in Henry the IV where Prince Hal is talking to Falstaff and some other characters, and he uses "You" and "Thee" exactly the same way Welsh uses "Chi" and "Ti" and French uses "Vous" and "Tu". As modern English has lost that distinction, the only way to do it is by language choice and use (or not) of contractions.